political parties - mrs. powell's...

Political PartiesCh. 16

Opener – Monday, March 28th

• CNN Student News

• Complete your CNN Write-up in your new Unit 2 Overview deck.

GPS Standards

• SSCG7: The student will describe how thoughtful and effective participation in civic life is characterized:

• by obeying the law

• paying taxes

• serving on a jury

• participating in the political process

• performing public services

• registering for military duty

• being informed about current issues

• respecting differing opinions.

GPS Standards

• SSCG8: The student will demonstrate knowledge of local, state, and national elections.

A. Describe the organization, role, and constituencies of political parties.

B. Describe the nomination and election process.

C. Examine campaign funding and spending.

D. Analyze the influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls.

E. Identify how amendments extend the right to vote.

Did You Know

• The first political parties held beliefs comparable to today’s parties.

• Like many conservatives today, Jefferson held that the purpose of government was to protect the freedom of individuals to pursue their personal goals without government interference.

• Like many liberals today, Hamilton insisted that government should have a strong role in carrying out programs needed to benefit the people.

• Like moderates today, Washington’s beliefs fell somewhere between these two.

Political Parties

• Political party - a group of people with broad common interests who organize to win elections, control government, and thereby influence government policies.

• The two major political parties in the United States are the Republicans and the Democrats.

Party Systems

• One-party System- authoritarian, common in communist governments and in some Islamic nations.

• Theocracy- a government dominated by religion.

• Multiparty Systems- France has 5 and Italy has 10. They represent different ideologies, basic beliefs about government.

• Two-party System- two parties dominatewhile minor parties exist. Ex: United States.

• Third Party- any party other than one of the two major parties.

Third parties

• Third parties believe that neither party is meeting certain needs.

• Types include• Single-issue party- focuses on one single issue.• Ideological party- focuses on overall change in

society.• Splinter party- splits from a major party because

of disagreement.

• While seldom victorious, they have a major impact on elections and political issues.

• They often take votes away from one of the two major parties.

• They have difficulty gaining broad support and have difficulty getting on ballots.

Early American Parties

• The first two parties were Federalists and Antifederalists.

• After Washington’s presidency:• the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists.

• The 1828 election of Andrew Jackson led to the creation of the Democrats and the Whigs.

• The Civil War saw the rise of the Republicansvs. the Democrats.

Functions of Political Parties

• Recruiting Candidates

• Educating the Public

• Operating the Government

• Dispensing Patronage

• Loyal Opposition

• Reduction of Conflict

Nominating Candidates – 4 ways

• Caucuses- early form where private meetings of party leaders chose candidates.

• Nominating Convention- official public meeting of party to choose candidates for office.

• Primary elections are the most common form of nominating used today.

• Closed Primary- only members of a political party can vote.

• Open Primary- Open to all voters regardless of party affiliation. They can still only vote in one party’s primary.

• Petition- A candidate announces his candidacy and a certain number of people must sign a petition for him to be on the ballot.

Party Leadership

Republican National Committee (RNC)

Chairperson:

Reince Priebus

Democratic National Committee (DNC)

Chairperson:

Debbie Wasserman- Shultz

National Conventions

• Conventions select a ticket, a candidate for president and vicepresident.

• The Convention also sets the party’s platform and planks.

• Platform – statement of principles, beliefs, and positions on vital issues.

• Plank – stance on a single issue.

This Year’s Political Conventions

July 25–July 28, 2016July 18–21, 2016

Parties influence voters

• Split ticket – when a voter chooses candidates for different offices from multiple parties.

• Straight-party ticket- selection of candidates from only one party.

Elections and VotingCh. 17

Election Campaigns

• A strong organization, headed by an experienced campaign manager, is essential in running a campaign.

• Television and the Internet are important tools for candidates;

• television conveys the candidate’s image,

• web sites are used to raise money and inform the public about the candidate.

Campaign Budgeting

• TV and radio = 40-50%

• Polling = 5-10%

• Paid Staff = 5-10%

• Candidate Travels = 5-10%

• Fundraising & solicitations = 20-25%

• Average Total Amount Spent = $1 Billion

• 2012 Presidential Election = approx. $6 Billion

Financing Campaigns

• Running for office is very expensive.

• The majority of campaign funding comes from individual citizens, party organizations, corporations, and special-interest groups.

• Political Action Committees, or PACs, are established by interest groups to support candidates, but they are limited in the donations they can make.

Financing Campaigns

• Two methods are used to get around campaign spending limits:

1. soft-money donations, which are contributions given directly to a political party for general purposes such as voter registration drives;

2. issue-advocacy advertisements, which support an issue rather than a particular candidate.

Voting Rights

• During the early 1800s, states gradually abolished property and religious requirements for voting, and by the mid-1800s, the nation had achieved universal white male suffrage.

• The Fifteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War, granted the vote to African American men in both state and national elections.

Voting Rights

• The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, granted women in all states the right to vote.

• The Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and 1970 outlawed literacy tests.

• The Twenty fourth Amendment banned poll taxes

• The Twenty sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

Influences on Voters

• Age, education, religion, and racial or ethnic background affect voters’ attitudes, but voters do not always vote with their backgrounds.

• Cross-pressured voters, those caught between conflicting elements in their lives, may vote based on the issuesand candidates.

Loyalty to Political Parties

• The majority of American voters consider themselves Republicans or Democrats, most vote for the party’s candidates.

• Independent voters, who have increased in numbers, do not belong to either major party but are an important element in presidential elections.

The Candidates Image

• Americans want someone they can trust as a national leader.

• Voters often select candidates for the image they project.

Propaganda

• Political parties and candidates use ideas, information, and rumors to influence voters with propaganda techniques.

Who Votes?

• List some reasons why someone would choose to vote:

• List some reasons who someone would choose not to vote:

Interest Groups and Public OpinionCh. 18

Opener – Tuesday, March 29th

• CNN Student News

• Complete your CNN Write-up in your new Unit 2 Overview deck.

The Power of Interest Groups

• Members of interest groups share common goals and organize to influence government.

• Interest groups draw their strengthfrom the financial resources, numbers, and expertise of their members.

Interest Groups and Lobbyists

• Most interest groups use lobbying, or making direct contact with lawmakersor other government leaders, to influence government policy.

• Many lobbyists formerly worked for the government and know its politics and people; other lobbyists are lawyers or public relations experts.

The Work of Lobbyists

• Lobbyists can:

• provide lawmakers with useful informationsupporting an interest group’s position;

• give testimony before congressionalcommittees; and

• help draft bills.

Public Opinion

• Public opinion includes the ideas and attitudes of diverse citizens.

• Interest groups and polls help informgovernment officials of public opinion.

• Significant numbers must hold an opinion to influence public officials.

Political Socialization

• Political socialization involves learnedpolitical beliefs and attitudes.

• The parents’ political party often becomes the party of their children.

• Schools, close friends, religious groups, clubs, work groups, economic and social status influence political socialization.

• The mass media, especially television, can directly affect political attitudes.

• The president, members of Congress, and interest groups try to influence opinions.

Political Culture

• A political culture is a set of sharedvalues and beliefs about the nation.

• Belief in liberty and freedom, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, equality, private property, and individual achievement are part of the U.S. political culture.

Ideology vs. Public Policy

• Ideology is a set of beliefs about life, culture, government, and society.

• A liberal believes the nationalgovernment should be active in helpingindividuals and communities promote health, justice, and equal opportunity.

• A conservative believes the role of government in society should be limitedand that individuals should be responsible for their own well-being.

• Since the 1970s most Americans consider themselves political moderates.

Measuring Public Opinion –

Nobody’s Perfect!

• During the presidential election in 1948, public opinion polls heavily favored Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S Truman.

• The news editors at the ChicagoTribune had been so confident of a Dewey victory that they had printed a “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline and distributed their early edition beforethe election results were fully tabulated.

Who Has the Last Laugh?

Measuring Public Opinion

• Political parties inform party leaders about voters’ attitudes.

• Members of interest groups contact public officials about specific issues, such as gun control, health care, auto safety, and so forth.

• The mass media measure program ratings to gauge public interest.

• Politicians use newspapers, magazine cover stories, editorials, letters to the editor, talk shows, and television newscasts to keeptrack of public interests.

Measuring Public Opinion

• Relying solely on mass media sources can distort information.

• Letter writing campaigns to public officials by mail, fax, and E-mail indicate levels of support and opposition for specific issues.

• Straw polls organized by media provide responses to specific questions.

• Pollsters may weight their results for race, age, gender, or education.

• The way a question is phrased can greatlyinfluence people’s responses.

Biased Questions

• Bias is prejudice in favor of or against an issue or person

• Questions can be biased:

• Leading questions – guide a respondent toward a particular answer

• ex. ‘Do you agree that…’

• Loaded or emotional questions –emotionally heavy questions meant to stir up emotions

• Ex. “Should the mayor fix the pot-holed and dangerous streets in our city?”

Political Ideology and

Socialization

Political Ideology

• Ideology: a set of basic beliefs

about life, culture, government,

and society.

• Political Ideology: An individual’s

or group’s set of beliefs about

governmental or political

structures and functions.

Organization of Political

Representation

• Political Planks - the individual issues or beliefs of a politician or citizen.

• Political Platform - the set of planks that a politician or citizen stands on.

• Political Party - an group of people with similar political platforms who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy.

Types of Platforms

1. Conservative

2. Liberal

3. Moderate

4. Radical

5. Reactionary

Political Scale

Pearson Education, Inc. ©

2006

How Political Socialization and other Factors

Influence Ideology Formation

• Political Socialization

• The process through which an individual acquires particular political orientations

• The learning process by which people acquire their political beliefs and values


2006

Agents of Socialization

FamilyMass MediaSchoolPeers


2006

Social Groups

• Group effects – certain characteristics that allow persons to be lumped into categories – also affect the development of political beliefs and opinions.

• Religion

• Age

• Race and Ethnicity

• Gender

• Region of the country


2006

The Impact of Events

• Key political events play a very important role in a person’s socialization.

• Nixon’s resignation in 1974

• Impression on young people

• Government not always right or honest

• Clinton Scandals

• Impact on Generation Y


2006

Why We Form Political Opinions

• Personal Benefits

• Political Knowledge

• Cues from Leaders or Opinion Makers


2006

American’s Political Knowledge

Percentage Unable to Identify

Number of senators 52

Representative in the House 53

Who has the power to declare war? 60

Chief justices of the United States 69

Source of the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people”

78

Sources: “A Nation That is in the Dark” San Diego Union-Tribune (November 3, 2002): E3; John Wilkens, “America Faces a Crisis of Apathy,” San Diego Union-Tribune (November 3, 2002): E3

2 per statePerdue & Isakson

GA has 14

Congress

Abraham LincolnGettysburg Address


2006

Personal Benefits

• Most Americans more “I” centered

• Attitudes on moral issues are often based on underlying values.

• If faced with policies that do not• Affect us personally

• Are not moral in nature

…Then we have difficulty forming an opinion.

• Foreign policy is such an example.


2006

Political Knowledge

• Political knowledge and political participation have a reciprocal relationship.

• High literacy rate

• Level of knowledge about history and politics low• Hurts American’s understanding of current

political events

• Geographically illiterate

Family

• Traced to communication and receptivity


2006

Mass Media


2006

School

• Taught patriotism and respect

• Citizenship


2006

Peers

• As family wanes in influence, peers influence increases, especially in middle-school and high-school


2006

Opener – Wednesday, March 30th

• Sit down & hold on – I’ll explain what we’re up to in a sec!

First Block Teams

Candidate Team Member 1 Team Member 2

Clinton Steven/ Mrs. Powell

Ranekka

Sanders Aliyah Denisia

Trump Ernesto Calyah

Cruz Laith Jared

Kasich Kisalyn Deshon

Other Topics Nayeem

Third Block Teams

Candidate Team Member 1

Team Member 2

Team Member3

Clinton Sam Olivia Desiree

Sanders Julliette Yudhvir Shamari

Trump Geo Megan Amina

Cruz Javon Debora Lorenzo

Kasich Adie Nate Claribella

Other Topics OwenWill

EdithJavarri

TheillyErnesto

Fourth Block Teams

Candidate Team Member 1 Team Member 2

Clinton Haddy Heber

Sanders Misael Jose

Trump Marianna Zachary

Cruz Kelvin Heidi

Kasich Heitor Ying

Other Topics Diego Guilherme

Opener – Wednesday, March 30th

Presidential Body Biographies• You should have already gotten your presidential candidate• Now find your partner for this ongoing project

Today• Each of you take one of the sheets and answer the questions on your

sheet• Make sure to write your names and candidate’s name on the top

of every page!• You’ll be using this research for the rest of the course, so do quality

work that will help you later!• Time permitting, you can begin your Body Bio today.

Before You Leave• Make sure to turn in your research papers so that I can give you credit

for your work

What’s a Body Biography??

Steps to Success

Timing Step ActionsToday #1 Research

Time permitting #2 Start Body Bio

Sometime Soon #2 Finish initial Body Bio

#3 Political Positioning

On-going Update our Body Bios with new info as we learn it!

Opener – Thursday, March 31st

Crash CourseCrash Course• Crash Course - Political Elections

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A5QlpAyKSQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48EZKXweGDo

The Presidential Election Process

We elect our U.S. President every four years• Even number years (2012, 2016 & so on)• Election Day is always the first Tuesday in the

month of November• Election Day 2016 is November 8th

The Presidential Election Process1. Candidates announce they’re running for their

party’s nomination

2. The official process begins with:• State primary elections• State caucuses

3. Nominating Conventions • Each party selects their ticket = President/Vice President

nominations

4. Campaigning and Debating

5. Election Day!

6. Electoral College Votes7. Congress counts the electoral votes8. Inauguration Day!

Up to 1-1/2 years in advance

January - June

July – Early Sept.

September - October

First Tuesday of November

DecemberEarly January

January 20th

Selecting the Party Nominees

Before the general election, most candidates for President go through a series of state primaries and caucuses.

• State primaries – are run by state and local

governments. Voting occurs through secret ballot.

• Caucuses – are private meetings run by political

parties. Each candidate’s group gives speeches & tries to persuade others to support their candidate. Eventually, organizers count the votes & calculate delegates each candidate has won.

Caucus & Primary States

Selecting the Party Nominees

Both primaries and caucuses can be conducted as:

• Open – people can vote for a candidate of any party

• Closed – voters must be registered with a political party to vote for one of its candidates

• Semi-open or semi-closed – which are variations of the two.

Awarding Delegates

At stake in each primary or caucus is a certain number of delegates. Delegates are people who represent their states at national party conventions.

• The candidate who receives a majority of his or her party’s delegates wins the nomination.

• In 2016 • Democratic candidate needs 2,383

delegates to win the nomination• Republican candidate needs 1,237 delegates

to win their nomination

Types of Delegates

There are two main types of delegates:1. Pledged – these are required to support

the candidate to whom they were awarded through the primary or caucus process.

2. Superdelegates - These superdelegatesare not bound to a specific candidates heading into the national convention.

Brokered and Contested Conventions

If no nominee has a party’s majority of delegates going into its convention, then the delegates pick their Presidential candidate in a brokered or contestedconvention.

First Round of VotingPledged delegates usually have to vote for the candidate they were awarded to, while superdelegates don’t. Later Rounds of VotingPledged delegates may be allowed to choose anycandidate in subsequent rounds of voting.

Balloting continues until one nominee receives the required majority to win.

The President and the Media

• The president is an important source of news; 80% of all media coverage of national government focuses on the president.

• The White House uses news releases, briefings, and press conferences, to make announcements, explain policies, decisions, or actions.

• The president or another top official sometimes gives reporters important pieces of information in a backgrounder, which they report without naming the source.

• Top government officials also provide the media with information “off the record” and through news leaks.

The President and the Media

• Modern presidents stage news events to reinforce their positions on issues.

Media and Presidential Campaigns

Television impacts presidential campaigns by:

1. requiring that candidates be telegenic

2. making it possible for unknowns to become serious candidates

3. encouraging celebrities from other fields to enter politics.

• Media coverage of nominations, especially primaries presented in horse-race terms, has changed the presidential nominating process.

Media and Presidential Campaigns

• Early primaries establish the front-runnerseven though the states involved represent only fraction of the national electorate.

• The front-running candidates are the only ones able to attract the funds to succeed in the long nominating process, and the candidates of each party are usuallyidentified months before the nominating conventions.

A Quick Reminder About

Propaganda!

• Seven Propangda Techniques

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQT_eNip1AY

Setting the Public Agenda

• The public agenda is a list of the problems that both political leaders and citizens agree need government attention.

• The news media play a role in setting the public agenda by highlighting some issues and ignoring others.

• Competition between media networks influences which decisions they cover; networks try to attractan audience by focusing on stories that will interest the largest number of viewers.

• The media also has an impact on opinion toward government and issues by influencing people’s attitudes and values.

Who to Trust?

• When watching news, you should be on the look out for bias. This is an intentional slant of information to make one candidate or party look better or worse than the other. Members of the press and news media often want to influence rather than inform you.

• For example, CNN, NBC, CBS tend to favor a liberal stance while FOX news tends to favor a conservative stance.

The Internet

• The Internet supports interactivecommunications among many people at once, which allows political activists to quickly mobilize huge numbers of supporters.

• Internet organizations and activities are spread around the world; as a result, it is often not clear which national laws govern Internet activities.

The Internet

• Thousands of Web sites devoted to politics and government are sponsored by government agencies, Congress, political parties, universities, and interest groups; some sites may be partisan, meaning that they support only their own point of view.

• Legislation can be tracked online through a government database called THOMAS.

Who to Trust?

• Much of what’s on the Internet and in emails should not be taken seriously. Rumors and lies are abundant on the Internet. You should only trust a reputable new agency or government site for political information.

• Candidates personal campaign sites often twist facts in that candidates favor.

Opener: Friday, April 1st

• April Fools Day

Unit 2 Test

• Remember!• No talking

• No squawking (no disruptions)

• No gawking (eyes on your own paper)

• No walking (raise your hand & I’ll come to you) – until all tests are turned in.

• All multiple choice answers are to be bubbled in on your Zipgrade answer sheet.

• Remember to complete your Performance Assessment on the separate sheet.

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